Tolan civil rights case to go to trial

Published 4:07 pm, Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The civil right lawsuit filed by Robbie Tolan, a former minor league baseball player who was shot by a Bellaire police sergeant in 2008, will be heard by a Houston jury, one of Tolan's lawyers said Tuesday.

"We're very pleased the 5th Circuit decided that the case will finally go to trial, as it should have in the first place," attorney Martin Siegel. "Robbie Tolan is now another step closer to justice."

Siegel said Tuesday's decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to send the case back to the trial court is a result of a ruling earlier this year handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Footage of I-10 closed and the trafficGodofredo Vasquez, Houston Chronicle

North Texas storms continueFox4

AT&T Names First Cities to Get 5G NetworkWibbitz

Bridging police & young minority studentsFox 26 Houston

The 'Black Panther' effectFox 26 Houston

100 Boys March against violenceFox 26 Houston

Isiah Factor Uncensored celebrates crawfish seasonFox 26 Houston

NASA engineer approved for proton therapyFox 26 Houston

10 p.m. Feb. 20 FOXRAD ForecastFox 26 Houston

"The issue is whether Officer Cotton violated Robbie's civil rights under the U.S. Constitution," Siegel said.

The racially charged case, which played out in Houston's criminal court and again in federal court, began when Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton, who is white, shot Tolan, an unarmed 23-year-old who is black, in the driveway of the Bellaire home where he lived with his parents.

In 2010, Cotton was found not guilty of a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant by a Harris County jury. He continues to work as a Bellaire police officer.

Tolan and his family sued Cotton and Bellaire police officer John Edwards as well as the Bellaire police chief and the mayor saying their civil and constitutional rights were violated after Tolan and his cousin, Anthony Cooper, were stopped as they were driving home after midnight Dec. 31, 2008.